Christianity And Homosexuality : The Way Of Thinking

Throughout history homosexuality had been seen as a sin and a punishable action. In the bible, in

The way people ultimately view homosexuality, whether in religion, politics or modern popular culture, is all determined by traditional or changing points of view. This essay will discuss mainly liberal and conservative Christian interpretations of the Bible, including many verses that may support or condemn homosexuality. It will also discuss the political views and laws against same-sex marriage and the social activism in the homosexual community. This is all about view points and it has many conflicting views and arguments.

In today’s Christian churches there has come about a very controversial subject, one that has been developing for many years, and is now at the fore front of controversial issues dealing with the church. The issue at hand is homosexuality and the Christian church. This controversy has caused there to be a split between the church into two different beliefs, liberal and evangelical, which one is right and which and which one is wrong? Issues such as should homosexuals be aloud in the church? If so how involved should they be? And most importantly what does God have to say about homosexuality? These are tough question brought about by a tough issue and the only way these questions can be

The topic of homosexuality in religion has many sides. There are those who believe that it is a sin in God’s eyes and according to the Bible, and there are those who believe the God and the Bible are not specific to homosexuals. It is a tough debate based on whether you are a religious person, how you were raised, and where your morals and ethics stand. You cannot truly believe one way without taking into account the other side and have valid proof to back it up.

Many Christians supports homosexuality and gay marriages. In fact, I know a few Christians who said to be homosexual. I praise them for standing up for what they believe and this demonstrates despite the fact of Christianity is seen as homophobic, there are Christians that acknowledge homosexuality. Many Christians that are homosexual still believe in the Bible and that God exists. Furthermore, in the article The Relative Importance of Ethnicity and Religion in Predicting Attitudes towards Gays and Lesbians, it expresses that Baptists and Catholics do not fundamentally contrast in their attitudes towards lesbians or gay men. For example, in the book of scriptures it expresses that God created man and woman, He saw that coupling was good and He blessed them and told them to be productive and reproduce. The Bible does make a strong qualification when it comes to marriage; it states that an individual should marry the opposite sex. Not only does the Bible, by default, deny same sex marriages, but tradition and nature prohibits it also. The idea is against every tradition known to human race and is obviously against

Homosexuality has become accepted by many in our culture today. PBS estimates that there are 9 million members of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community (Greve, Joan. “LGBT America: By the Numbers.”). This makes up 3.8% of the US population. Some of these members identify as Christians. So this poses a couple of questions: does the Bible really condemn homosexuality, can you be a gay Christian, and can two people of the same sex be legitimately married? These are important questions for churches to have answers to as the LGBT movement is becoming very popular.

Nowadays, society would praise Alice Walker for shining the spotlight on sexual minorities, but society back then did not approve of homosexuality and did the opposite. To non-Christians, homosexuality depends on the trend or based on what the public widely accepts at the moment. To Christians, this topic is even more sensitive because the Bible discredits homosexuality as a sin. However, that still cannot legitimize banning a book. Christians tolerate all other books with different kinds of sin, and how does homosexuality differ from other sins?

What Does the Bible Teach About Homosexuality? The Bible The Bible teaches against any sexual relations except between husband and wife. The Bible specifically mentions sexual intercourse between persons of the same sex as among the forbidden acts. Homosexual acts are mentioned in seven Bible passages.

Is it possible for our society to ever be blind to the many distinctions that separate us? According to history, every major civilization that existed from the Egyptians, to the Romans, and even the Ottomans, has oppressed at least one certain group due to a religion, sexuality, gender, race and many more. The present is no different, where people are judged based on race, gender, religion and sexuality. Homosexuality, has existed as long as humanity, yet it is still an issue today; Jewish people have suffered for centuries, nothing has changed for them. When a civilization is on the edge of failing, it seeks to blame a group in order to maintain itself. What really effects people’s judgments is religion, primarily due to its ability to feed

This ability to have an open-mind allows change to occur within a culture instead of following century old norms that eventually influence how a society functions. For the most part, societal norms often bash homosexuality and faiths like Islam and Judaism describe the practice as being an “abomination” (Feldman 427). These anti-homosexual perspectives religions have on homosexuality have the power to influence the minds on those who practice the religion and thus tend to make people believe homosexuality should not be permissible within their own culture. Part of the reason behind this is because religious devotees often see the teachings of the churches as the correct way of living. This results in the inability to promote change within the

The idea that is still taught in some churches today is that the Christian sexual ethic came to earth fully formed, straight from heaven, about 2,000 years ago. Throughout all that time, there was exactly one way for Christians to express their sexuality — by staying abstinent until they got married to a person of the opposite gender. And then, you could have at it all you wanted.

A major reason for the fear and objection towards homosexuality is organized religion. Whether we notice it or not, we as humans follow many everyday concepts from the Bible. Examples would be, to not steal, murder, or commit adultery in marriage. The Bible also states that homosexuality is unethical and should be avoided as other sins. These are all great to follow, if you conform to the rules of the Bible. Religious back up should not be used in order to deem something wrong or unethical. It is essential to understand, to deem homosexuality ethical or not, rational decision-making must occur. One must analyze the pros and cons; if the pros outweigh the cons, homosexuality is ethical, and visa versa. One who explicitly follows an organized religion must follow the rules of a higher power (God). Getting rid of this obstacle will leave room for autonomous decisions on homosexuality, and eventually its place in good ethics.

There are several religions which condemns the notion of homosexuality. Growing up in a Christian household I was taught that being homosexual is a sin in the sight of God. For example, in Jamaica my family practiced Pentecostal religion where they are very passionate about their traditions. There were unspoken beliefs that homosexuals were to be punished for their sexual practices. This belief followed me to the United States. Even though we went to a Baptist Church, the teachings were the same. I held on to this religious belief for many years and lived my life in a way that was conducive to my religion.

Opposition to gay marriage has increased since the summer and a narrow majority of Americans also oppose allowing gays and lesbians to enter legal agreements that fall short of marriage. Moreover, despite the overall rise in tolerance toward gays since the 1980s, many Americans remain highly critical of homosexuals ­ and religious belief is a major factor in these attitudes.

Homosexuality is not a 20th century situation but has been in history from the age of ancient Rome, Greece, Egypt, and even China. The attitude toward homosexuality always has been a variable, depending on the social, cultural and morality, or even the political development (Barnecka et al., 2005). Back in Greek history the concept of relations between two men was seen as the highest form of love, whereas the Judaic view always was against and frowned upon these relations considering it immoral and illegal. However, when the Roman rule was destroyed and the Christians took over Europe, homosexuality was seen as perverse (Woodward, 1997).